Dictionary

sangfroid en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /sɑŋˈfɹɑ/

Etymology

Borrowed from French sang-froid, from sang (“blood”) + froid (“cold”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation.
   • If there’s one unspoken club rule, it’s that when we meet, we only discuss the play in question: no gossip; no politics; no families; and no football. As an association, we demonstrate near-Olympic sang-froid. 2020 August 22, Robert McCrum, “For ever and a day: why we turn to Shakespeare at times of crisis”, in The Observer:
   • He handled the stressful situation with great sangfroid.
   • Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid. 2013 January 14, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, page 62:
   • Indeed, some of the little naked human figures seemed to display a near comical sangfroid, even as they were pecked by giant birds, hatched out of eggs, had huge flowers inserted in their bottoms, or, in the case of one of my favourites, sported a monstrous blueberry instead of a head. 2011 July 28, Terry Castle, “Do I like it?”, in London Review of Books, volume 33, number 15, →ISSN:
   • The provincial people, intimidated by Gudrun’s perfect sang-froid and exclusive bareness of manner, said of her: “She is a smart woman." 1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC:
   • We can handle functions of a few variables with some aplomb and view sets of quantities totalling 10⁶ or 10⁷ with sangfroid. 1961, Richard Bellman, Adaptive Control Processes: A Guided Tour, Princeton University Press, page 197:

Forms

Relateds

sanguine

Synonyms

unflappability · aplomb · poise

Translations (32)

hy սառնարյունություն (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · pt sangue-frio (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · fi kylmähermoisuus (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · hu hidegvér (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · sh hladnokŕvnōst (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · fr sang-froid (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · bg хладнокръ́вие (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · it sangue freddo (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · de Kaltblütigkeit (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · gv neuchorraghys (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · es sangre fría (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · sv behärskning (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · et külmavereline (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · tr serinkanlılık (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · sh хладнокр́вно̄ст (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · hy ինքնատիրապետում (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · nl koelbloedigheid (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · de Gelassenheit (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · ru хладнокро́вие (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · el ψυχραιμία (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · be халаднакро́ўе (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · it imperturbabilità (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · ca sang freda (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · no kaldblodighet; sinnsro (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · ru самооблада́ние (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · de Seelenruhe (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · tr soğukkanlılık (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · fi kylmäverisyys (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · pl zimna krew (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · da koldblodighed (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · uk холоднокро́вність (composure, self-possession or imperturbability) · fi kylmäpäisyys (composure, self-possession or imperturbability)